Healthcare training on the agenda as Minister visits Coventry University

Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter MP visited Coventry University to find out more about its training courses for Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) and to discuss the part that AHPs can play in the future design of the health service.

Dr Poulter, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health, dropped in on the University’s Faculty of Health and Life Sciences on Thursday 24 January.  The Minister’s visit came at the invitation of Ann Green, a Physiotherapist within the Faculty and current Chair of the Allied Health Professions Federation.

Allied Health Professionals account for some 130,000 clinicians, managers, educators and researchers in the UK. They represent the third largest group of healthcare professionals and thus play a vitally important role in the delivery of health and social care across the country.

Ann Green, Chair of the Allied Health Professions Federation said:

I was delighted that the Health Minister took time out of his busy schedule to visit the University’s Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, which is home to the largest selection of vocational health and social care courses in the midlands.

As well as highlighting the excellent standard of training on offer here, we had a very productive discussion about the part that AHPs can play in delivering care services and shaping future provision for the benefit of patients.

The Health Minister’s visit took in the University’s state of the art facilities, including the ambulance room - one of the first of its kind in the country - which houses a fully equipped ambulance simulator for students to use as part of their studies. Here he met with paramedic staff and students to talk about the different routes into the profession as well as the issues facing military medics who wish to work in civilian roles – a subject that the Minister has a keen interest in.

Military medics are not automatically registered by the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) as paramedics – a requirement for those working outside the armed forces – and have to retrain from scratch if they wish to practice in a civilian setting.

Medical personnel from the RAF have taken up a conversion course at the University as a route towards full paramedic registration but there is a feeling within the profession that more could be done to ease the transition from military to civilian service

Dr Tim Kilner, Principal Lecturer in Paramedic Science at Coventry University said:

We run a foundation degree in paramedic science for our direct entry students which leads to HCPC registration. We also run a diploma course to allow qualified ambulance technicians to convert to HCPC registered paramedics. This conversion course is being accessed by RAF students, who have received additional training to become ambulance technicians, as a route to becoming fully registered paramedics prior to returning to their military roles both in the UK and overseas.

It is sometimes difficult for military medics to make a smooth transition into civilian paramedic practice after they leave the armed forces. There is clearly work to be done to formally recognise prior learning from military service and to assist service personnel transition into civilian practice and HCPC registration. We were keen to get this message across to the Health Minister during his visit.

For further information, please contact Mark Farnan, communications officer, Coventry University, on +44 (0)24 7765 8245 or email mark.farnan@coventry.ac.uk.